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JAMES It. OHILES, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

Letters Patent No. 73,782, dated January 28, 1868.

. IMPROVED HEAD-REST FOR SEATS.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JAMES It. CHILES, of Richmond, in the county of Hem-ice, and State of Virginia, have invented a new and improved Heed-Rest for Car ondother Seats; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe some, suiiicicnt to enable those skilled in the art to which my invention appcrtains to make use of it, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is in side elevation of a chair having my improvement applied to it, and

Figure 2 a view in perspective of the upper portion of the some.

In this invention the head-rest is made vertically adjustable by means of a ratchet, and by the peculiar shape of the supporting-rod, the head-rest is thrown forward when the seat is extended or reclined, so as to support the head in a more coui'i'ortable posit-ion, and dispense with the necessity for a pillow or other support under the head.

Travellers on railroads; and others who have used flUJMbLiUJlC head-rests for seats, have experienced much dilliculty in properly adjusting them. In most cases they are fixed by means of a sct-screw, or some device of that nature, operating in the rear of the sent, and obliging the occupant to get up'and go round behind the seat to adjust his head-rest. One object of this invention is to obviate that diliiculty. Another, and a still more important one is to provide a head-rest which can be thrown forward when the chair is placed in a reclining position, and thus be made to operate as a pillow to support the head a little higher than the rest of the person.

In the drawings, A is the body of the chair, and B is its back; C is the head-rest, and ois the rod or stand nrd which supports it. The letter is bent, as shown in both drawings, the concave side being in front, and it is supported by ratchets r1, on the inne'r side of two posts or standards R R, in the back of the chain. The ratchets are made with deep teeth, which firmly hold the supporting-rod, the latter sliding between the two posts It R, and being provided with lateral arms 0 c, which engage with the ratchet. The hend-rest can thus be adjusted by simply lifting it up, and throwing its upper end forward, so that the arms a 0' shall be brought behind the ratchet, where they will work up and down without engaging with its teeth. When raised or depressed itfi fun as required, throw the bend-rest back, and the arins c a will be brought forward in contact with the ratchet again, and will support the head-rest in that position. The head-rest will only be needed for use when the occupnnt of the chair desires to assume a reclining position, as shown in fig. 1. When such is the case, the bent supporting standard a will form its shape alone, bring the head-rest considerably forward, and cause it to serve us a raised pillow, which supports the head in an easy and comfortable position. When not raised, the head-rest fits down upon the back of the chair, forming apparently only a portion of the choir-back.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The head-rest C, when made adjustable by means of a ratchet, 1' 7, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

To the above specification of my invention, I have signed my hand, this twenty-ninth day of November, 1867.

i J. R. OHILES. Witnesses.

Guns. A. PE'rTIT, I

Senor C. Knnox. 

